Virgin Mobile Cell Phones

The First MVNO, The First Prepaid-Only Provider

An innovator in the industry, Virgin Mobile is the world's first MVNO, or mobile virtual network operator. What this means is that they do not have their own network infrastructure, signing agreements with other cellular service providers for their network usage needs. In a sense, they act as a wholesaler, buying airtime and data bandwidth in bulk, and then repackaging, remarketing and reselling it to the end consumer (i.e., you).

Virgin Mobile is also the first company to offer prepaid cellular services only, opting out of the usual prepaid monthly game (with the exception of UK, Australia, and South Africa). In many ways, they paved the way for several other MVNOs, like Helio, Boost, and Amp'd.

Virgin Mobile USA

In the United States, Virgin Mobile operates off of the Sprint CDMA network. High-speed data comes by way of the CDMA2000 1xRTT network from Sprint.

Virgin Mobile USA opened up shop in the summer of 2002. Today, you can find the company's displays in a number of supermarkets and retail outlets, like Walmart, Target, Radio Shack, Walgreens, and Best Buy. While all of their services are prepaid and require no contract, there is a minimum charge of $20 every 90 days. This is still a great option for low-usage customers or for those looking for an emergency-only mobile phone.

Cell Phone Choices

Virgin Mobile USA currently has seven handsets. Here are a few highlights:

• Switch_Back is a Kyocera-made phone that was designed with mobile messaging in mind. Following much the same philosophy as the T-Mobile SideKick, the Switch_Back (yes, the underscore is part of its official name) has dual color screens, a QWERTY keyboard, and a VGA camera.

• Nokia Shorty is a simple candybar-shaped cell phone that you can customize with interchangeable faceplates. Boasting 4.6 hours of talktime, 8.8 days of standby, a two-way speakerphone, and a built-in flashlight, the Shorty is a good emergency phone.

• Slider Sonic is Virgin Mobile's music-centric handset. If you love playing your MP3s on the go, you'll definitely want to take a nice, long look at the Slider Sonic with its stereo headphones, MP3/WMA player, TransFlash expandable memory, and video-recording VGA camera.

• Oystr (the missing "e" is intentional) is another handset that was built by Kyocera. This basic clamshell doesn't do much -- there's no camera, Bluetooth, or anything like that -- but it doesn't get much cheaper than this offering.

Virgin Mobile Canada

Virgin Mobile Canada is 49% owned by Bell Canada and operates on their CDMA-based cellular network. The service was launched in March 2005, and can currently be picked up at such shops as The Real Canadian Superstore. Virgin Mobile Canada's target demographic is the budget-minded 16 to 25-year-old who doesn't want to be tied down to a lengthy contract and doesn't talk for hours on end with their friends and family. Each $15 top-up card is good for 120 days, effectively setting the minimum annual charge at $45 (compared to the approximately $80 south of the 49th parallel).

Cell Phone Choices

Virgin Mobile Canada only has five cell phones in its lineup, all but one of which is a flip phone (the lone exception -- the Nokia 2125i -- is also the least expensive). Here are a couple of phones to get you an idea of what Virgin Mobile Canada has to offer:

• Nokia 3155i Rock Box Edition comes with an exclusive red and white look to go with its bonus "white-hot" Nokia stereo headset and coupons for free videotones and ringtones. Music is at the forefront here, with its FM radio, voice recorder, and 3D demo games rounding out the features.

• LG 3300 lacks an external display, so you really need to open up this "sleek flip phone" to see who is calling. A basic clamshell, the 3300 sports a speakerphone, downloadable musictones, an internal 65k color display, and voice activated dialing.

International Providers

In addition to the services they offer in Canada and the United States, there are Virgin Mobile MVNOs found in at least four other countries:

• United Kingdom: Operating on the T-Mobile network.
• Australia: Making use of the Optus network.
• France: Working off Orange's network.
• South Africa: Using the Cell C network.